The tiny Persian Gulf state of Qatar is Hamas’s main financial backer and also hosts the virulently anti-Israel Al Jazeera media outlet. So how can Qatar be trusted to serve as one of the main mediators in hostage release talks? And why isn’t US President Joe Biden, who has no problem blaming Israel for Hamas atrocities in Gaza, pressuring Qatar to use its influence to release Israeli hostages?

It’s true that for years, Israel legitimized Qatar’s financial support of the terror group by allowing the Gulf state to deliver suitcases full of cash to the Gazan enclave for humanitarian needs. But it is now apparent that Qatar was well-aware that its funding was being used for terror purposes.

An article by JNS on the topic entitled Terror-Supporting Qatar Is No Friend Of The West quotes Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, as saying there is no doubt that Qatar is a “rich and sophisticated enemy of Israel. It hosts and funds the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, including its Palestinian offshoot Hamas, and owns the rabidly anti-Israel Al Jazeera TV station.”

Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS that the Qataris “burned Israel the same way they burned the United States time and time again. They’re masters of the double game—presenting themselves as moderates who want to play a Switzerland-type role in the Middle East when in truth they are ideological and financial supporters of Islamic extremism.”

Goldberg said he doesn’t believe Qatar is an ally of the United States, “but sadly Doha has an enormous influence network bought and paid for in Washington. When there’s a policy of retreat or appeasement, American officials tend to empower bad actors like Qatar to serve as interlocutors with adversaries.”

Goldberg said that the Biden administration could and should have put maximum pressure on Qatar on Oct. 8, but didn’t. “What was essential from day one was putting the Qataris to a choice—face severe consequences or deliver the hostages,” he said. “We never did that,” he said. Instead, Goldberg said, families of hostages were instructed by Qatari-funded non-profits to remain quiet and even praise Qatar.

According to Con Coughlin, The Telegraph’s defense and foreign affairs editor and a distinguished senior fellow at Gatestone Institute, Qatar is “playing a double game by pretending that it is a neutral observer in attempts to negotiate a Gaza ceasefire with the U.S., while at the same time using its state-owned Al Jazeera news channel to propagate pro-Hamas propaganda.”

Coughlin told JNS that Israel’s willingness to allow Qatar to continue providing aid to Gaza while Hamas still controlled the enclave “now appears to have been a serious strategic miscalculation, as it is now clear that Qatari funding that was supposed to be used to provide humanitarian relief was instead diverted to fund the development of Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure.”

Washington’s relationship with Qatar “is mainly driven by its desire to maintain its Al Udeid military base in the Gulf state, which plays a key role in supporting CENTCOMs military operations in the Middle East,” Coughlin said. “This is why the U.S. State Department often turns a blind eye to the Qataris’ support for hardline Islamist groups such as Hamas, the Taliban and the Muslim Brotherhood.”

A recent confidential report by US and Israeli intelligence professionals on behalf of lawyers of the families of October 7th victims reached the same conclusion, Times of Israel reported this week.

The report states: “Qatar operates not as an independent mediator as it claims, but benefits directly from the bloodshed and geopolitical fallout and unrest that result from its policies.”

Even worse, the report concludes that “Qatari funding and policies led directly to October 7.”

The “Doha-Gaza Alliance at all levels — financial, political, and military — has resulted in the current regional upheaval, the impact of which is being felt worldwide. Continuing to allow Qatar to act as a key mediator in the Gaza conflict is mistaken.”

The authors of the report say that it includes material about Qatar’s malevolent activities that have been known to US intelligence for years but not acted upon. These findings include, among other things, the fact that Qatar has been completely aware and supportive of Hamas’s military buildup and evil goals for over a decade despite publicly declaring that its funding for Gaza was only being used for “humanitarian purposes.” The report says that the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and his government were well aware that “the vast majority of funds Qatar was sending to Gaza were going to assist Hamas’s terror infrastructure, weapons, and training.”

Qatar has provided at least $2 billion to Hamas, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. In addition, it allows full freedom to Muslim Brotherhood leaders to operate in the country, including Dohas’ banking and investment sectors.

“And Qatar’s influential Al Jazeera Network not only maintains an editorial policy backing these outlawed groups, it also provides them platforms (including special programming, interviews, social media feeds, etc.) through which to push the Muslim Brotherhood’s political platform.”

“The negative impact of the Qatari-Muslim Brotherhood nexus to US policy interests includes bloodshed, unrest, and instability in a wide range of locations, most immediately in the Middle East and Africa,” the report continues. “These ‘local’ conflicts have far-reaching implications for US policy going beyond the region — with Russia and China oftentimes appearing to be the main beneficiaries of the instability these conflicts have created.”

“Qatar actively backs extremist terrorist groups in at times open defiance of US government policy and interests,” the report says, adding that Doha allows these groups along with Iran to use its financial institutions to avoid US sanctions. “Large-scale money laundering also appears to be taking place by these groups with the knowledge of the Qatari authorities.”

JNS also addressed the issue of Qatar’s generous donations to US universities, saying that “its strategic and questionable approach to funding also suggests efforts to advance nefarious state interests rather than purely philanthropic motives.”

“For example, the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) has just released new research regarding the flow of funds from Qatari foundations to Cornell University.

The research reveals previously unknown channels through which billions of dollars have been directed to the university, raising critical concerns about transparency and foreign influence.

According to ISGAP, the findings specifically shed light on the significant influence of Qatari state proxies, such as Qatar Foundation and Qatar National Research Fund. These entities are used to mask direct Qatari government investment in U.S. universities, as part of Qatar’s soft-power strategy regarding the West.

ISGAP’s research shows that the Qatari Emir and the Qatari government are directly behind the industry funneling billions of dollars into leading American universities such as Texas A&M, Georgetown, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Virginia Commonwealth and others.

In light of the findings, ISGAP has issued letters to relevant authorities calling on Cornell to close its campus at Doha Education City and expose all contracts related to the university partnership with Qatar. Earlier this month the Board of Regents at Texas A&M decided to end the university’s 20-years partnership with Qatar and close the TAMUQ campus in Qatar.

Charles Asher Small, executive director of ISGAP, called upon American universities “to follow Texas A&M’s decision to pull out from Doha Education City. Qatar, a state that supports, funds and hosts terrorists should have no place in America’s higher education.”

ISGAP initiated the “Follow the Money” research project in 2012, focusing on the illicit funding of U.S. universities by foreign entities promoting anti-democratic, antisemitic ideologies, often linked to terrorism. This ongoing investigation unearthed substantial Middle Eastern funding, primarily from Qatar, to U.S. universities, previously unreported to the Department of Education (DoED) as required by law, revealing billions of dollars in unreported funds. This groundbreaking work led to a federal government investigation in 2019.

Despite its close ties to the United States and other Western nations, Qatar has cultivated an extensive network of Islamist partners, hosting, supporting and representing entities such as the Muslim Brotherhood, maintaining ties with Iran, hosting the Taliban, supporting Hamas and backing militias in Syria and Libya.

It is clear that Qatar is no friend of the West. By hosting Hamas’s leaders, allowing Al Jazeera to spread anti-Israel propaganda and funding U.S. universities in exchange for influence, Qatar has demonstrated clearly it is on the side of evil.

In Inbar’s view, Israel needs to “take the gloves off” and Qatar’s leadership should “pay for their behavior.”

At the same time, he added, “Israel should increase efforts to delegitimize Qatar’s behavior in the United States.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)